One common type of vibratory walk behind soil compactor includes a single vibratory drum which is journaled between a pair of end plates. Walk behind soil compactors are frequently used to compact soil in trenches, and because of the presence of the end plates in a single drum unit, the soil adjacent the walls of the trench cannot be adequately compacted. With deep trenches, soil compactors are frequently operated remotely to eliminate the need of workmen being in the trench. However, with the use of a single drum compactor, manual labor is required to compact the soil adjacent the walls of the trench, thereby requiring workmen to be in a potentially dangerous position in the deep trench.
More recently, double drum soil compactors have been used including a single or central vertical support plate with a drum cantilevered outwardly from each side of the plate. The double drum compactor has the advantage that there is no supporting frame located outwardly of the ends of the drum so the drum can be used to compact soil immediately adjacent the walls of the trench or vertical wall. However, a double drum soil compactor as used in the past has been employed with a rigid non-articulated frame and steering has been accomplished by driving each drum, as well as the rear drive wheels, through independent hydraulic motors. With the use of a rigid frame, the compactor cannot float so that there is a tendency to compact the high spots, but leaving the low spots inadequately compacted.